And what can you do?

I started watching Alphas solely because I miss Mr. Vincent Nigel-Murray on Bones. He was my favorite squintern, and I seriously wept at his death two seasons ago. The kind of science-fiction of Alphas is not usually too much my thing, but I was scrolling through Netflix options the other day and came across it and decided to give it a try.

Let's be for real, Alphas main premise, people with unusual abilities, has been done before. I mean Heroes, anyone? But there is enough in its universe to make it compelling and not a poor knock-off like it could have become. I really enjoy the tenuous relationship the main Alpha teams has with the government. And I hope they explore more how conflicting it must be for the team to do what they do, seeing as mostly they're finding people just like them for the sole purpose of locking them away. Their own fear of the government turning on them and locking them away too is palpable in many episodes, coming to a head when their handlers incarcerated them all looking for a mole in the group. I hope they delve more into the main team's thought process on what makes them different from those they put away.

I do really enjoy how, unlike say Heroes, the abilities often seem rooted in science. As if a certain bodily mutation could make the ability possible. Bill's ability is triggered by his fight or flight response. Cameron's was compared to someone with perfect pitch. My only complaint about their abilities, at least as pertains to the five main team members, is that they are all cliches that match their character. The autistic boy is a virtual computer. The big black man is super strong. The hot girl can push you to do anything she wants. The all-American white boy has perfect aim. And the shy, overly sensitive girl is literally over sensitive. Wouldn't it have perhaps been more compelling to watch the geeky autistic boy bust out his super strength? To see the shy, socially awkward girl bend people to her will? I think people who are more incongruous, have more layers and conflicting personality traits and abilities are more interesting.

I have only just finished Season One, which ended with quite a reveal (literally: the alphas were revealed to the world on national TV much to the dismay of the government) and am looking forward to where this will take the team.

A new direction for New Directions?

Glee is easily one of, if not my number one, favorite show on the air right now. I have no problem looking past its (multiple) flaws and failures and instead throwing myself whole-heartedly into an episode by episode deep over-analysis of its literary merits and cultural significance. I can lose myself in its superficial candy coated shenanery and revel in its excellence when it digs deeper and gets things right.

Throughout Seasons 1 and 2, Glee found a pretty solid formula: in each episode, no matter what someone was going through, all problems could be solved with a song. That formula was compounded by a core group of virtually unchangeable misfits. Sure, they swapped out the virtually non-existent Matt for the delightfully doofy Sam. And yes, Lauren (who I just loved with Puck) briefly filled the void left by Kurt until she was unceremoniously dumped from the cast. But the core eleven stayed the same. More than that, they dove deep enough into some of those characters who were originally brought in as little more than background scenery (like Santana, Brittany, and Mike) to the point where almost everyone had enough to make them a character rather than an archetype, a person in their own right that an audience would be invested in.

It wasn't until Season 3 that the problem of making every single character fleshed out and beloved was realized. In that very first episode back in May 2009, Rachel had in no uncertain terms declared herself a sophomore. This was now senior year. This was the last year these kids would all be together. How was the show supposed to continue without these characters we'd become so attached to and still remain true to its original premise? How could the show follow all these beloved characters on to their lives throughout the country without becoming so fractured that it eventually just broke? Season 3 had to recognize that they were quickly coming to a cross-road.

And so Season 3 became one of transition. But...sneakily. Yes, we still had those core 11 and they continued on with the formula that had served them so well for the past two years. But at the same time, Season 3 slowly but surely moved towards new directions beginnings.

First up, the transfer of Blaine. A smart move, he was already an established character and half of a couple with an extremely devoted (and sometimes demonic) fanbase. His addition wasn't much of a shock. He was familiar, he was comfortable. There might have been some controversy over his newly revealed age and grade level, but his presence at McKinley was to be expected. Then we welcomed Sam back from his brief departure. His financial situation was still the same, we were reminded of his relationships with both Quinn and Santana, and his declaration of love for Mercedes was a reprieve for a previously dropped storyline. Again, familiar and comfortable. And another junior.

Throughout the year, we were introduced to Sugar, Rory, and Joe, interspersed enough to make each new addition unique and to not dump too much new on the audience at one time. For me, Sugar and Joe were especially welcome additions as their characters were so vastly different from anyone else in New Directions (whereas I felt Rory was just another Finn or Sam, kind of dorky and clueless). Of the three, Joe was my favorite as he was directly responsible for two of my favorite conversations during Season 3 (the God Squad's discussion of homosexuality was hilarious, and Joe and Sam's heart to heart on how to balance a sexual relationship with Quinn and a relationship with God I found to be a very honest look at that particular struggle without being remotely mocking towards Christians or preachy towards non-Christians).

Another very smart move made in Season 3? "Hold Onto Sixteen" gave us a Sectionals competition that was completely Rachel-free. The New Directions were also missing Santana and Mercedes, their two other power house female voices (though we did see them compete as members of the Troubletones). Instead Tina sang lead, Blaine and Artie had a duet, and basically everyone had a solo somewhere. Take note of who those three featured students were. All juniors. Those three will ease us in to Life After Rachel. And tell the truth, i found it to be one of my favorite competition episodes of the whole series (with my absolute least favorite costumes, both New Directions and Troubletones). Maybe more spotlight sharing will continue into Season 4?

All of these moves during Season 3, not to mention letting the audience cling to Tina and Artie (and a lesser extent, Blaine and Sam) as juniors, and Brittany as a super-senior, eased the shock that could have been Season 4.

I have some thoughts on the first episode back: the new characters and certain people or storylines I'd like to see more fully explored, but that will have to wait until tomorrow...

Smash!

I watched the first five or six episodes roughly around the time they aired, but then got distracted and put watching more on hold. I stopped right after The Workshop (which I think is my favorite episode after the finale), though part of the reason came from watching the promo for the next episode. I knew Karen was going to be singing that horrific Touch Me song, and everything I'd read about it said it was just disastrous and revolting and it's sometimes hard for me to watch something that I know is going to make me embarrassed for everyone involved. Like the horrific Touch Me song. Tom and Julia were just so obviously appalled and insulted and screaming at Derek and all Karen could do was sit there wrapped in a ridiculous sheet trapped in the bed/jail contraption. Like I said, hard to watch.

Even without watching, I'd been keeping somewhat abreast of the show. I knew of some of the bigger plot points, like getting rid of Michael as Joe DiMaggio and replacing Ivy with a super annoying and not super talented movie star in the  role of Marilyn, and was keeping up with the music as well (really the only reason to watch some musicals). Finally I decided it was time to wade back into the world of Smash...and promptly devoured it. Once I plowed through what I can only ever refer to as that horrific Touch Me song I was hooked and couldn't stop. I finished Bombshell around 1:15 this morning and am devastated that NBC is keeping season two on hold as a mid-season replacement.

So yes, as you can clearly see, I am definitely a fan of Smash. That's not to say that Smash doesn't have it's fair share of flaws. For me personally, the biggest issue is the constant pitting of Karen vs. Ivy. Clearly Katherine McPhee is talented. She's a lovely singer and a decent enough actress (despite what my sister constantly refers to as her "dead eyes") and a pretty girl, but there's nothing you can do to make me believe that her Karen possesses some kind of elusive "star quality" that Megan Hilty's Ivy lacks. Everything about Ivy's performance of Marilyn was superior: from her singing to her commitment to the overly enunciated breathy voice even down to her body shape. Like I said, Karen's a very pretty girl, but she's tall and slim and willowy. Marilyn was definitely not, and Ivy's more soft, rounded, and fleshy shape is much more the Marilyn ideal. For me, this point of Ivy's superiority was driven home the most in the finale episode during Karen's performance of I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Want to Howl. I wish I could find a youtube clip of the number so you could see what I mean. They intercut the number with a few clips of Ivy singing it oh so many episodes ago at Nick Jonas' birthday party (Lyle? Was that his character's name?), and it's clear that Ivy just so much more naturally embodied that combination of sweet innocence, sex bomb, and joy that Marilyn was able to contain. Karen was very much playing a part, whereas Ivy became Marilyn Monroe (which I suppose has a darker significance considering the way Ivy concluded the finale episode). I wish I could put a video of both performances here so you can see the difference I mean, but I can't find either so you'll just have to watch the whole show instead! Ivy sings her version in episode 4 The Cost of Art and Karen hers in the season one finale Bombshell.

Which brings me to something I simply LOVE about the show and that is the music. Sure, every once in a while when they randomly break out into real pop songs it can feel a little forced, but when it comes to the original songs, seriously I would so pay to go see this musical. I can take or leave some of the covers, but I've downloaded every song from Bombshell's playbook. And the fact that it comes and goes, like you'll hear the same song more than once adds an element of reality to the show, the fact that this is a musical that's still being built and rehearsed. You'll hear different people sing the songs and some lyric tweaks, and it's a realistic element that I find adds greatly to my level of enjoyment.

I'm very much looking forward to the next season. I know there's going to be a new show-runner, and with that some obvious changes (such as the exits of certain obnoxious characters that had the potential to be superbly slimy, but instead just became a nuisance), but I think that can only help Smash. There were some brilliant ideas that were entertained this season, but some definite kinks that need to be worked out too.

And so I'll leave you with one of my favorite numbers, where you get to see both Ivy (the blond in green) and Karen (the brunette in blue) in action. Neither of them are Marilyn at this point, only soloists in the chorus, but still super fun.